Detailed review by sharkel
sharkel
cumbernauld, United Kingdom98%
We stayed in The Best Western Frankfurt Plaza in July 2006 as part of our fabulous summer holiday in Austria and Germany. Not having booked any of the trip I was pleasantly surprised at this hotel in Frankfurt. I was even more pleased due to the rather grotty hostel we had just frequented in Innsbruck, Austria. Anything would have been better than that!
The hotel is a three star and has forty five rooms all easily accessible by a lift in the main reception.
Location
The plaza is located on Esslinger Strasse which is about a ten minute walk from hauptbanhof - the main train station in Frankfurt. There is a tourist information kiosk in the station where you can get a map of the city and locate the hotel. I have added picture below of a map of the city centre with the hotels location on it. The hotel is ideally located on a quiet street which is just a 3 minute stroll from the Maine River this is definitely a stroll I would recommend for during the day as it is lovely.
Its only a stroll to get into the city centre but as I had badly hurt my ankle in Austria we decided to treat ourselves to a taxi which was only 7 euros. The hotel kindly called the cab and we asked the driver to take us to the best area for restaurants and a drink afterwards we were dropped at the Römerplatz, where the summer festival was in full swing! This taxi journey only took five minutes.
As the river is so close its easy enough to walk along the river to reach the Römerplatz in the evenings and this would only take 10-15 minutes. As we didnt do this and chose to take a cab, I really cant comment on how safe this would be although I do think its a walk best kept for the daytime when you can appreciate it more although I think it was probably dark by the time I had limped along the riverside.
The hotel is handy for all the main sightseeing activities throughout the city and isnt any more than 10-20 minutes walk to most of them. These include Goethe Museum, the Film Museum, the Palmengarten botanical garden, the Frankfurt Zoo, the Tigerpalast, International varieté theater and much, much more.
First Impressions
The hotel is in a quiet street and there are residential buildings on it as well as other hotels. I was unsure of what to expect as the entrance to the hotel is rather small and not at all grand, the hotel also looks slightly shabby from outside and has concrete balconies outside the rooms - but what a surprise when you walk in the door! The hotel looks as though it has just been modernised or refurbished. I immediately felt comfortable when walking into the hotel and I was pleased at the décor. There was a lovely bar to the left of the hotel all chrome and light wood, very fancy.
Rooms
The rooms in the plaza were fantastic! In the room was a large firm double bed, large couch, wardrobe, desk/dressing table and small table and chair. The room is decorated in mostly navy with light coloured wood furniture giving the room quite a contemporary but comfortable feel.
One of the first places we tend to check is the minibar/fridge (I'm not sure what this says about us - Childish? Hungry? Excited not to be in Glasgow?). We found that it was well stocked, but not necessarily with things we would want (i.e. mars bars and mini bottles of champers) There were small cans of beer, soft drinks, peanuts, Bacardi and vodka miniatures (now you see them, now you dont!). All in all the usual fare that you would expect from a European mini bar. On the desk in the room were two large chilled bottles of mineral water, one sparkling and one still we didnt see any prices for the water and can only assume that the water was free, thankfully we didnt have to test this theory as we were still enamoured of our mini bar.
The bed was comfortable and immediately testedwith an afternoon nap! I found that the pillows were a little too flat and was happy to find that there were spares in the wardrobe as well as more bed spreads.
The bathroom was absolutely spotless and a great size. The shower was strong and done the job after a hard day sightseeing around the city. I was disappointed not to find any special toiletries only the usual shower gel and soap. But lets face it, if there had been any, I would have brought them home and added them to my collection to gather dust! There was a huge counter in the bathroom with a massive mirror and also a magnifying mirror (avoid it, trust me!). There was a hair dryer in the bathroom and also a European plug point for electric shavers.
As always there was the city information literature that you find in most hotels. We found the information in this hotel very helpful and there is certainly a lot of it.
Cots are available for rooms if you have small children and these can be requested from the reception.
There is a television, radio alarm clock, safe & telephone also available in the rooms.
Facilities
Facilities in the hotel include dry cleaning, laundry, restaurant and breakfast facilities, lift and bar. There is a 24 hour reception for any queries you have or if you simply fancy a drink at the stylish bar. Further facilities include:
Exchange bureau
Shoe shine
Parking (8 euro charge)
Fax and photocopying service at a charge dependant on use
English speaking staff
Alarm calls available from reception
Food and drink
Now to my favourite subject!
We stayed at the hotel on a bed and breakfast basis but chose to eat dinner in restaurants in the city this isnt a reflection on the hotel, this was simply because we were there for such a short period of time and wanted to see more of Frankfurt.
Breakfast was buffet style and there was also hot food available. The selection was really good. I had natural yoghurt and fruit to start with (heehee!) and then toast with scrambled eggs, all washed down with fruit juice and coffee and all greatly enjoyed. My other half had bacon, scrambled eggs and toast with orange juice, again greatly enjoyed. Also available on the buffet table was cereal, a large selection of breads and rolls, cheeses, fruit, muffins, biscuits, ham, boiled eggs, muesli and much more! I was in my element.
We came down to breakfast about 9am and still found there was plenty of food we noticed that the food was replenished while we were sitting there and people just helped themselves. There was always a waitress about If you need anything or wanted coffee or tea.
A few guests came down to breakfast and took a tray of food up to their rooms. I dont know if this is common practice but no one seemed to mind if you do, just dont tell them Sharon sent you.
We had a drink in the bar after returning from our meal and night out. As with most hotels the bar generally stays open as long as the residents require it, within reason. The bar was reasonably priced and in-keeping with the area, we were given the option to add our drinks onto our bill, but we preferred to pay then and there.
Staff
We found the staff extremely polite and unobtrusive. We were checked in with the minimum of fuss and the hotel policies explained. They happily called us a cab and gave us information on the city and the best places to go. Check out, again, was a painless experience and they offered to watch our luggage to allow us to explore a little more before catching the train to the airport.
Unfortunately I found it necessary to have further dealings with them after out trip. I left a jacket in the wardrobe of our room. During our correspondence the staff, in particular Helena, were friendly and professional. Although. I never did get my jacket back.
Price
The hotel offers many packages and break deals these can be viewed on their website which is
I have had a look at the summer prices for 2007 and you can expect to pay approximately £80 per room per night with breakfast thrown in.
Hotel policies include:
Pets allowed for 8 Euros per day
Check in 3pm
Check out 12pm
Value for money
I would definitely say that this hotel offers value for money; I thoroughly enjoyed staying here and would recommend it.
If you do book to stay in this hotel, please do ask them if they have found a beige cord jacket!
Thanks for reading x x
BEST WESTERN Plaza Frankfurt8
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